Earth Day Customer Dis-service.

Before I begin this post let me make it clear: I have nothing but respect for MANY of those who work in the food service industry. I know how difficult the task is. I, myself, used to work in a restaurant as a teenager, albeit in the U.S., so I know firsthand how hard the task can be.

In celebration of Earth Day, Starbucks had a great promo: bring your tumbler/mug to any branch and get Php 40.00 off of your purchase. Yes, like many of you, I decided to grab the opportunity to enjoy my favorite Starbucks drink at a discounted price. To add to my excitement, it was the first time I saw their summer offerings, which included the Dark Mocha Frapuccino. I loved that drink the first time they offered it and was disappointed when the season was over and they removed the drink from the menu.
So I went to the counter and handed over my cup and asked for my drink. The barista punched it in and I saw that the price was Php 165.00. So I prepared Php 125.00, because of the discount. After fiddling with the machine several times, the barista calls his colleague and says "Bakit wala yung Earth Day discount" ("Why doesn't it register the Earth Day Discount?"). So the other guy tries and fails, then turns to me and says, "Ma'am, okay lang ba, hindi nag didiscount sa Dark Mocha"(Ma'am, is it okay that there's no discount on the Dark Mocha?"). I pointed out to them that it said ANY drink except bottled water and juice. So they tried again and once more tried to get me to concede the discount of get another drink, but I declined to. I suppose they were not used to people standing up for thier consumer rights and so they got a bit flustered and eventually gave me a discount by punching in another drink instead but giving me my drink anyway.

It was upsetting to a small degree how customer rights are not really given much credence and value in this country. It seems to me that a lot of times the priority is given to the company and the customer is not given as much value. For example, when I go to the grocery, at times I pick something up thinking that it costs whatever it says in the price tag but when they scan it, they charge you more. Then when you point it out all they say is that the correct price is whats on the scanner. This is unfair practice in my opinion! Another Starbucks example that comes to mind is one time during the Christmas promo I ordered a couple drinks and was told there was no more regular milk, and if it was okay to substitute it with soy milk instead. So I said, ok, because we were already there and we lined up for a long time already. When we were paying, we were charged extra for "ordering" soy milk! Again, to the company's interest!!! When I was working in the restaurant in the States, if we had to substitute an ingredient BECAUSE WE COULDN'T DELIVER what the customer was ordering, that was on us. But if they requested it as a special order, then they pay. That's what they should have done. It wasn't our fault there was no regular milk after all.

At the end of the day, what really gets my goat is that no matter how much I complain, fill up complaint sheets and the like, I don't see change happen. What now?